Sheet metal working hammer



Dec. 30, 1952 R. A. DAlllELS I 2,623,426

SHEET METAL WORKING HAMMER Filed July 11, 1950 INVENTOR Pofieri A Dani/s I'm/idem ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 30, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 13 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in sheet metal working hammers and more particularly to ahammer for shrinking stretched portions of a sheet metal structure, such as an automobile body or fender.

It is among the objects of the invention to provide an improved sheet metal working hammer which is efiective, when applied with sufficient "force to -a-'stretched area of "sheet metal, to work "or kneadthe sheet metal "and produce ashrinking effect on the area treated, which may be used with equal client on either fiat or curved areas and may be usedwith or without a backing dolly,

"as conditions may require, which will reduce a dented area ma n automobile body or fender to the original shape by shrinking the stretched metal candby drawing low spots up to the original 'contour'and will leave the surface sufficiently smooth that filling and filing of thereworked surface is unnecessary and a paint receiving surface can be provided by polishing the area with a suitable abrasive, which requires only the usual skill of an automobile body repairman, and which is simple and durable in constructiom and:positive and effective in use.

Other objects and advantages will become apparentfrom a consideration of the following descriptionand the appended claims in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure l is an end elevational view of a sheet metal working hammer illustrative of the invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevational View of the hammer illustrated in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a plan view of one of the working faces of the hammer;

Figure 4 is a magnified area of the plan view illustrated in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary cross sectional view on an enlarged scale taken substantially on the line 55 of Figure 4; and

Figure 6 is a fragmentary cross sectional View on an enlarged scale taken substantially on the line 6-5 of Figure 4.

With continued reference to the drawing, the hammer comprises a head is formed of suitable metal, such as iron or steel, and including a centrally located, handle receivin eye formation II and two stems l2 and I3 of generally cylindrical shape joined at adjacent ends to the respectively opposite sides of the eye formation II and extending in opposite directions from the eye formation along a common center line. At its end remote from the eye formation II the stem I2 is laterally extended to provide an enlarged nose l4 of rectangular shape and at its end remote from the eye formation the stem I 3 is laterally extended to provide an enlarged nose l5, also of rectangular shape.

A handle It is secured at one end in the eye formation l I and extends from this eye formation with its center line substantially perpendicular to the common center line of the two stem portions l2 and I3.

The two rectangular nose formations l4 and I 5 have a width of approximately one inch and a length of approximately two and one half inches and are 50 arranged that their longer dimensions extend along the handle It. The common center line of the stem portions l2 and I3 intersect the longitudinal center lines of the two nose formations at a location spaced approximately one and one-eighth inch from theends of the nose formations extending outwardly of the end of the eye formation 'll opposite that from which the handle extends and approximately one and threestantially perpendicular to the common center lineo f thestem portions 12 and I3 and the nose formation l5 is prjovided onits outer side with a workmg surface lt which is transversely curved to a partly cylindrical shape. This working surface 18 is longitudinally perpendicular to the common center line of the stem portions l2 and I3 and the transverse curvature of this working surface is symmetrically related to this common center line.

Each of the working surfaces i1 and I8 is provided with a series of small, contiguous teeth, as indicated at 2B in Figures 4 and 5, covering the entire area of the corresponding working surface.

In a hammer specially designed for working sheet metal of the gauge commonly used in automobile body and fender work, as described above, these teeth have a height of approximately one thirty-second of an inch and a size such that approximately two hundred and fifty teeth are included in each square inch of working surface of the hammer.

The teeth are divided by grooves, as indicated at 2| and 22 in Figures 3 and 4, which extend diagonally of the rectangular working face areas and mutually intersect each other. The teeth are generally pyramidal in shape but are sloped more in one direction than in the other, as is clearly illustrated in Figure 5, and have elongated rather than pointed outer ends. The major slope of the teeth is toward the ends of the working faces remote from that end of the handle which. is remote from the eye formation l l. The mutually parallel grooves 22 extend entirely to the bottoms of the teeth but the grooves 21 extend only about half way the height of the teeth from the outer ends thereof.

The size and weight of the hammer and the size and arrangement of the teeth 20 have been found to be critical within narrow limits for working sheet metal of particular gauges or thicknesses, the dimensions given above having been found to provide the most satisfactory results when used on sheet metal of the gauge commonly employed in automobile fender and body work.

By properly using the hammer, as described above, on a dented or stretched area of the automobile body or fender, the distorted or stretched metal can be reworked to shrink and draw it back to its original condition and the original contour can be obtained without leaving a rough surface which has to be filled in with solder or putty and then filed to the proper shape and without the necessity of welding or replacing the damaged portion of the structure. The hammer leaves the work surface in a substantially smooth condition so that a paint receiving surface can be provided by merely polishing the reworked surface with an abrasive disc or with emery paper or other suitable abrasive.

In using the hammer the force of the blow is directed longitudinally of the working face in a direction away from the distal end of the handle as well as normal to the working face. By working first around the edge portion of a dent with such downwardly and outwardly directed blows this portion of the dented material is worked back toward the undamaged portion of the structureand by gradually working toward the center of the dent all of the stretch in the damaged metal can be removed as the dented area is restored to its original contour.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are, therefore, intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed is:

1. A sheet metal working hammer comprising a hammer head having a handle receiving eye formation and a working face spaced from said eye formation, said working face having contiguously arranged pointed teeth covering the entire area thereof, said teeth having a height of approximately one thirty second of an inch and a size such that there are approximately two hundred and fifty teeth on each square inch of working surface.

2. A sheet metal working hammer comprising a hammer head having a handle receiving eye formation and a working face spaced from said eye formation, said working face having contiguously arranged pointed teeth covering the entire area thereof, said teeth having a height of approximately one thirty second of an inch and a size such that there are approximately two hundred and fifty teeth on each square inch of working surface, and said hammer having a weight of approximately one and one-quarter pounds.

3. A sheet metal working hammer comprising a hammer head having a handle receiving eye formation and a working face spaced from said eye formation, and a handle secured at one end in said eye formation, said working face having contiguously arranged pointed teeth covering the entire area thereof, said teeth having a height of approximately one thirty second of an inch and a size such that there are approximately two hundred and fifty teeth on each square inch of working surface and having an inclination outwardly from the associated working face and away from the end of said handle remote from said eye formation.

ROBERT A. DANIELS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date D. 151,378 Leskin Oct. 12, 1948 128,020 Conklin June 18, 1872 624,961 Muller May 16, 1899 1,212,502 Kern Jan. 16, 1917 1,822,394 Ferguson Sept. 8, 1931 2,357,726 Carter Sept. 5, 1944 2,447,162 Conrad Aug. 17, 1948 

